Diaz on Next Steps for Precision Medicine in Ovarian Cancer

John Diaz, MD, the chief of Gynecologic Oncology, lead physician for Clinical Trials in Gynecologic Oncology at MCI, and chief of the Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, Baptist Health South Florida, discusses potential innovations that he expects to see in the future for patients with ovarian cancer.

According to Diaz, there has not been a standard way to determine between different types of ovarian cancers, their genomes, and how best to treat them. Currently, patients are treated with a one-size-fits-all approach.

However, a number of precision oncology options have been developed for this patient population over the past 10 years. Moving forward with research in this space, experts hope to continue to advance precision medicine and improve upon the role that it plays in the management of patients with ovarian cancer.

Transcription:

0:10 | Ovarian cancer is an umbrella term and under that are cancers that begin in the ovary, cancers that begin in the fallopian tubes, or peritoneal cancers. Ovarian cancers represent a heterogeneous group of patients and we have known this since the 1930s. The challenge has been we have never had a great way to determine these different cancers, their genomes and how best to treat them, so we kind of took a one-size-fits-all approach.

0:37 | Our patients are treated with a combination, usually of carboplatin and paclitaxel, and while we had good results with that, the advent of precision medicine allows us to identify specific markers for these patients, so that we can target specific pathways that each individual patient will respond best to.

0:54 | As we move forward, we are identifying additional targets in ovarian cancer. We are also using a combination of treatments. We are looking at various targets and combinations to attack and fight this cancer and different pathways.